At the start of the first round, the character controlled by Eriri launched a fierce assault, and the fight looked almost completely one-sided. (Continued)

Eriri: No!

Hasegawa Izumi: You asked for it, but you won't give it to me. So what are you trying to pull, then? Angry.jpg.

Eriri: Then I'll lend you the money. Let's meet this afternoon, and I'll give it to you in person.

Once they'd achieved their goal, the two ended the conversation.

Eriri clutched her phone, looking somewhat displeased.

Of course it was because that tree held a special meaning!

"We promised that someday, if we got the chance, we'd watch another meteor shower together. If you've forgotten, I'll never forgive you!"

She murmured to herself.

That afternoon.

The two agreed to meet at the intersection on Detective Slope.

"How long have you been here?"

When Eriri arrived and saw that her Childhood Friend had gotten there first, she asked.

"Not long. I just got here."

Hasegawa Izumi replied.

"More importantly, where's my money?"

"What do you mean, 'your money'?! I worked my heart out to earn this myself! I'm only lending it to you, so you have to pay me back!"

Eriri pulled a stack of bills from her bag and slapped them against her palm, speaking with a haughty air.

"That's fine. Should we write up an IOU?"

He raised an eyebrow.

Even brothers had to keep their finances straight.

He understood that much.

"No need for an IOU. This amount of money is nothing to me... But what if you can't pay me back someday?"

Eriri tossed him the money and walked a few steps ahead before turning around to ask with a teasing expression.

"Don't worry. I can handle it."

He tucked the money away with satisfaction and thumped his chest in promise.

"I won't accept stolen money, you know. It'd be a real pain if I had to bail you out of jail someday."

Eriri gave a soft snort, convinced she'd seen through her Childhood Friend's little scheme.

"You doubt me? You're still too young, Eriri."

Hasegawa Izumi burst out laughing.

"If that's the case, I'll put myself up as collateral someday. How about that?"

"W-Who would want a fool like you?! You'd only cause me trouble!"

The girl stammered, the tips of her ears turning even redder in the sunlight.

"Come on! We hardly ever get to go out, so take me shopping for a while."

Eriri waved her hand and turned away.

"You're always like this. I'm used to it by now."

He followed her and remarked.

The girl in front of him reacted at once.

"Could you keep that to yourself? Stop making snide remarks!"

The Observer of the 43rd World

Inside a clothing store.

"How does this hair clip look?"

"It suits you."

"How about this hair tie?"

"It suits you."

"What about this bracelet?"

"It suits you."

Suddenly, the scene fell silent.

"How about this? I think it would suit you."

Eriri grinned as she raised her right hand, clenched into a fist. It looked like she might throw a Pegasus Meteor Fist at any moment.

"Uh..."

Hasegawa Izumi was left awkwardly speechless.

"What do you mean, giving everything the same review?! You're obviously humoring me. Is this how you treat your creditor?"

The twin-tailed girl pouted and spoke imperiously.

"No, I mean, Eriri's so cute that any of these little accessories would look good on you. It doesn't matter how you match them."

His gaze shifted as he came up with an excuse.

Her jade-white cheeks immediately flushed a lovely shade of red.

But she soon stamped her foot and said, "Flattery won't work on me! Still, I'll let you off this time!"

Then she bought all the little things she'd picked out.

They continued on their way.

Before long, the two arrived at a famous anime shop, stocked with all kinds of merchandise: model kits, figurines, anime accessories, cosplay outfits, plushies, and more.

"I'll take this life-size body pillow."

Eriri stopped in front of a huge display case, glanced down at it, then pointed to a pillow.

"That's the vampire protagonist from The Necromancer of Iron, right? What, have you gotten into this series too?"

He gave it a closer look.

"Idiot! Obviously, it's for Kōko! She'll like this, won't she?"

Eriri scolded him at once.

"She definitely will. But why do you suddenly want to give Kōko a present? It's not her birthday yet."

He sounded puzzled.

"I want to give her one, so I'm giving her one. Does an older sister need a reason to give her little sister a present? What a ridiculous question!"

Instead of answering, Eriri shot back and scolded him.

"That's true enough."

He nodded readily.

Someone going out of their way to give a little sister a present was a wonderful thing.

Kōko would probably be thrilled.

With their purchases in hand, Eriri and he headed to the counter to pay.

"Hasegawa-kun?"

Just as they were about to leave, a voice called from nearby.

"Oh, it's you, Ki-san."

Hasegawa Izumi turned and saw a girl with a hime cut, chestnut-brown hair, and pale blue eyes. He'd met her several times, so she left him with some impression.

"I didn't expect to run into you here, Hasegawa-kun... Huh? Did you really buy a body pillow like that?"

Ki Karen approached, her gaze falling on what he was holding.

"This? Actually, it's..."

He was about to answer, but realized that the person beside him had vanished.

Wow, she'd already disappeared without a trace!

"Yeah, I'm planning to give it to my little sister."

He simply nodded and admitted it.

"You have a little sister, Hasegawa-kun?"

Ki Karen seemed curious, but out of politeness, she didn't press him. Instead, she suddenly grew shy, hesitating as if she wanted to say something.

Miss, your expression is a little strange.

"Damn it, could this be one of those scenes?"

From behind a nearby bookshelf, a head peeked out. The girl frowned.

He smiled to himself and said, "If there's nothing else, I'll get going."

"No, wait... Actually, I wanted to ask you a favor. Um, Sawamura-san is your Childhood Friend, right?"

"That's right. How did you know?"

His gaze sharpened.

"I'm in the News Department, so we're a little well-informed. We heard about it... Anyway, I wanted to ask if you could introduce me to Sawamura-san. I saw that painting of the 'Sun God' she did before, and I thought her skills were amazing. I wanted to ask her for some advice."

Ki Karen clasped her hands behind her back and smiled.

"So that's all."

Hasegawa Izumi's eyes subtly shifted toward a certain spot, and he received a response.

"Just go to the Art Club and look for Eriri. You can tell them I sent you."

He readily agreed.

"Thank you, Hasegawa-kun. I won't keep you any longer. Good luck in your next match!"

The girl happily bowed to him, then waved goodbye.

After they'd walked some distance from the anime shop.

"By the way, what's the Sun God? Could it be Nika? I'm not that kind of character."

"Nothing like that. I just happened to catch you jumping up for a smash while playing tennis and drew it."

Eriri caught up with him as he muttered to himself and casually explained.

"Doesn't it look cool?"

Hasegawa Izumi pressed her for an answer.

"Heh. It's all right. The main thing is that I drew it well."

Eriri gave a cold laugh.

When they got tired of walking, they found a place to rest and sat beneath a sun umbrella.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. Here are your extra-large banana-mix sundaes."

With a sweet smile, the server set down the ice cream desserts, a medley of ingredients, in front of them, then left.

"Phew, that was close. I almost gave myself away just now!"

Eriri looked relieved.

"You ran faster than a rabbit just now, Eriri. Are you really that afraid of being seen?"

Hasegawa Izumi teased her.

Eriri picked up her spoon and scooped some ice cream into her mouth. She smacked her lips before saying, "Unlike you, you idiot, I can't just do whatever I want! If something like that got out, my reputation would be ruined in an instant! Those humanlike creatures hiding in the crowd are waiting for this moment every second. They'll rush over without hesitation and tear you apart!"